Your letters: healthcare reform

The health plan by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is more a GOP gimmick than a plan. As long as we provide a capitalist solution to our health problems, there will be no improvement to our health dilemma. It is the fox guarding the henhouse.

The first change must be to establish limits to insurer fees. Without “options,” limits cannot be guaranteed. This is the basic law of nature where consumer protection is concerned. Without “options,” there is no protection — period. The “fox” is still in control and the capitalist solution continues.

The best thing for Americans is to replace capitalist theories with consumer-advocacy measures. The consumer must, at last, come before the business mogul. The problem in Washington is that all of our congressmen are capitalist-oriented, wealth enthusiasts — foxes.

— Miguel Espinosa Jr., Oxnard

Scale back reform

I am against President Barack Obama’s healthcare makeover. It is not because I do not agree that some reforms are necessary, but because I do not agree with the way the Democratic Party is going about it. Why should we have a 1,000-page bill that few people have read and fewer understand when a better approach is to pass a number of smaller issue-specific bills that deal directly with the problems in our present system?

If pre-existing conditions are problematic, let’s have a bill that deals with that. Such a bill would be a few pages long at most and could be understood by everyone.

If medical malpractice lawsuits are a problem, let’s have a bill that deals with medical malpractice, including tort reform and defensive medicine. Again, such a bill could be understood by all.

Years ago, we used to have regulation in our airlines. When we did, our airlines were more user-friendly than they are today. There were more flights and better service. We did not have a U.S. Government Airline competing in the marketplace.

We do not need the government to compete with private insurance carriers — we need the government to regulate it.

Finally, I do not believe that the Congress or the president will be able to come up with a single omnibus bill that repairs all the problems, remains fair to all and does not kill free enterprise. Based on previous experience, I have no reason to expect that they can get this right.

Let’s have regulation if it is necessary. Let’s have several small bills that fix problems without destroying our basic system. We do not need another monstrous bureaucracy managing a law that only a few understand.